Method and system for estimating brain tissue damage within white matter tracts from a quantitative map

Abstract

A system and a method for mapping brain tissue damage from quantitative imaging data. The method is implemented by acquiring a quantitative map of a brain tissue parameter of said brain; acquiring a tractography map for said brain; superimposing a first map based on the quantitative map onto a second map based on the tractography map. Metrics are extracted from the superimposition that reflect a distribution of tract-specific quantitative values of the brain tissue parameter and the metrics of the brain are displayed.

1 . A computer-implemented method for mapping brain tissue damage from quantitative imaging data, the method comprising:
 acquiring a quantitative map of a brain tissue parameter of the brain;   acquiring or receiving a tractography map for the brain;   superimposing a first map based on the quantitative map onto a second map based on the tractography map to form a superimposition;   extracting from the superimposition metrics reflecting a distribution of tract-specific quantitative values of the brain tissue parameter; and   displaying the metrics of the brain.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first map is a deviation map or the quantitative map itself. 
     
     
         3 . The computer implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the second map is the tractography map itself or a processed tractography map, and the method further comprises, prior to superimposing the first map onto the second map, processing the first map for having, for each of the voxels of the first map, an intensity value of the concerned voxel quantifying a deviation of the value of the brain tissue parameter for the voxel with respect to a reference value of the brain tissue parameter for the voxel. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 1 , wherein the extracting step comprises using aggregate statistics for extracting the metrics. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 4 , wherein the aggregate statistics are configured for computing a sum of voxel-wise qMRI values weighted by voxel-wise tract density values. 
     
     
         6 . A system for mapping brain tissue damage from quantitative imaging data, the system comprising:
 a first interface for receiving or acquiring a quantitative map of a tissue parameter for a brain;   a second interface configured for acquiring or receiving a tractography map;   a memory for storing at least one of the quantitative map or the tractography map;   a control unit including processor, said control unit being configured for carrying out the steps of the method according to  claim 1 ; and   a display connected to said control unit and configured for displaying the metrics obtained for the brain.